Rail-joint.



R. H. MoGARTHY.

RAIL JOINT APPLICATION FILED- JUNE 27, 1914.

Patented Sept. 22, 1914.

61 NM IWHU 1 ill/IIIlI/IIIIIIIIIIIYIIII Wane/awn jToaZZ whom it matconcern f flBe' it known that LROB RT H. MCC RTH fajcitizen' of theUnitecbStates',residing at, Madelia, in the county Watonwan and State of'Minnesota, have invented certain new: and useful; linprovements iinRail- "Joints, of which thelfollowing is a specilicarArEN FF 1 nonnn'rn.MecAR'rHY," orivmnntia'nin vnsorn.

RAIL-JOINT.

i tion, reference being had to, the accompanylO I jjoint,;and hasfor'its primary ob ectto pro whereby the use of bolts and analogous fastening element's for holding the abuttlng 1 i This invention relates toan improved rail vide aniinproved device of this character ends ofrailsectionsftogether.may be dis- QYTheinvention has for anotherobje'ctto provide a rail joint wherein the opposed {ends of the adjacent railsjare peculiarly "I formed"for interlocking engagement 1 with a "eachother,}'andkeyniembers adapted to co- T operate with ineanslupon therail endswhich will admit of expansion of thefrailsgbut the inventionconsists in novel featuresarofj Feifectually preclude their complete:separation.

l The tical use- With the above and other obj construction, combination,and arrangement i of parts as will be hereinafter referred to 35specification. and claims,

and more particularly pointed outin the For a full understanding of theinvention reference is to be had to the following description andaccompanying drawing, in .wh1ch 1 q l Flgure 1 1s a perspective viewillustrating a rail joint embodying the presentlinvention; Fig. 2 is ahorizontal longitudinal section; Fig. 3 is a transverse section; Fig. 4

isa detail perspective view of the opposed ends of the adjacent rails;and Fig. 5 is a similar view of one of the ,key'members.

Referring in detail to the drawing, 5 and 6 respectively indicate theopposed ends of two rails which are to be coupled or joined together.The web of eachrailis increased in thickness for a short distance fromeach end, as shown at 7, and one rail is provided in one of its endfaces with a .V-shaped' recess or mortise 8 which extends fromhthe treadsurface of the rail to the base thereof.

Specification of Letters Iat ent.

invention has for a further general; object to provide a rail jointwhich isiextremely simple in its construction, and strong, durable andhighly efficient in prac vided with" a V-sha'p'ed projection or' tenon 9whichis adapted toYbeiinserted in mea r- I i tise of said' 'lirst namedrail when the rails melami-a The'opposed end'O t e other. ail i arebrought together. The under side of .1. each rail head is provided withlongitudinally extending beveled or inclined shoul der 10 which isspacedfrom the base of the; thickened portion of the rail web and-isjcoextensive inlength therewith. Thesebeveledorinclined shoulders upon theopposite sides offthe rail web extend 'inrelatively opposite directions.The end of eachthicki ened web portion 7 ,is provided upon oppositesides of the railuwith verticallyextendinginwardlyinclinedshouldersf'll. i 12- designates the keys whereby the two railsarejoinedor'locked together. I Each of these keys is in. the form of along steelbar of substantially triangular shape in cross section, saidj banhavingthe oppositely bev "eled -faces 1 3 which are designed to coopcrate withthej beveled shoulders 10 upon the bottom of the rail head, and thebeveled or inclined longitudinally extending shoulders 14whichfarefformed upon the base of the.

rail upon opposite sides of the -webh The key barhasa} lu'g15fintegrally formed upon. one end thereof,- whilethe other end portionn .ofthebar is reduced in thickness as shown a at 16 and .isLnormallydisposed .aout of the longitudinal plane of thebodyportion of said baror obliquely inclined as clearlyv illustrated in Fig.5 of the drawing.The extremity of thisreduced end portion of the bar is also formed witha lug 17 which projects from the same face of said bar as the lug 15.The distance between these lugs 15 and 17 is slightly greater than thedistance between the vertical shoulders 11 of the ad- .jacent rails whenthe ends thereof are en gaged.

Having abovedescribed the several structural features ofmyinvention itsoperation will be understood as follows: The ends of the rails are firstbrought together, the

tongue or tenon 9 on the end of one railbe- The keys 12 are now insertedfrom of the movement ofthe tongue,9 completely.

out Of-tlle recess 8,8 The rails ma v, however, expand and contract. Inthis mannerit will be seen that I have produced a:

' very serviceable and highly efiicient rail joint, and one whichmay beproduced atsmall manufacturing cost. 1 While I have above described thepre-' ,ferred form, construction, and ,arrange ment of the severalelementsemployed, it will beunderstood that the device.is, never--\theless, susceptible of considerable modifi-,.

cation therein, and'I therefore reserve the privilege of resortlngjitoall such legitimate; changesasmay be fairly embodied within;

the spirit and; scopeof the vinvention as 1 ends with interlockingmeans, each ofsaidf rail sections being provided. with vertical,ShouldersIuP Opposite sides of tits'lweb and keys adapted to be fittedbetween the head andrbase portions of the rails and each providedwith-3a reduced obliquely disposed} end portion, the opposite-endsof;each keyr,

having lugs formed thereon, the lug on one end 'of 'the key beingadapted for engage- 'to be forced inwardly against'the side of the otherrail web to dispose the lug thereon in line with the correspondingshoulder upon said latter rail.

2. In a rail joint the combination of adjacent rail sections providedwith interlock ing means upon their abuttingyends and each having athickened webportion. producing a vertical shoulder upon each side ofthe main rail web, the under side of the rail head and the base of therail upon oppositesides of said-thickened web portion being providedwith longitudinally extending shoulders inclined in relativelycopposite-directions, and keybars each having oppositely beveled faces forengagement with the opposed shoulders on one side of the rail webs andprovided with a reducedend portion obliquely inclined with respect tothe body of the bar, the opposite ends of the key; bar having lugsformed thereon, one of which is adapted to engage one of the verticalshoulders on one rail, the reduced end portion of said bar being adaptedto v be forced inwardly into parallel relation with, s

therail web to dispose the lug thereon in line with the verticalshoulder of the other rail. n, a

In testimony whereofI hereunto aflix my signature in the presence of twowitnesses. r

ROBERT H. MGOARTHY. Witnesses: I v H. C. GuNnERsoN.

Copies of this patentmay be obtained for five centsv each, byaddressing'the Commissioner of Patents, I x w .1 i Washington,1):0; a

